Allen Bolden, who scored the run that gave the Lipscomb Bisons their first ever Atlantic Sun Tournament Championship in 2008, is working as an auditor and still keeping up with Lipscomb University sports. He has also been married less than a year to the former Olivia Ellis who played tennis for the Lady Bisons. Despite the demands on his time he spent a few minutes talking with Lipscombsports.com.

What sport(s) did you play at Lipscomb? What years? Who were your coaches?

“I played baseball from 2005-2009. I played one season for Wynn Fletcher and three years for Jeff Forehand.”
What is your fondest athletic memory at Lipscomb?

“It would have to be scoring the winning run in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship my junior year in 2008.

“It was pretty hot and humid down there in DeLand, Fla. It had been a long tournament. We had battled back from so many things. We lost our second game and immediately went into the loser’s bracket.

“In the championship game we faced Gardner-Webb, and it was our fifth time to play them that season. In the ninth inning we were up by two or three runs. I remember looking at Blake Bratcher in left field after there were two outs and saying, ‘we’ve got this.” Gardner-Webb ended up tying the game.

“In the 13th inning Gardner-Webb scored a run to make it 7-6. I remember running off the field thinking we were worn out and there was no way for us to come back. But we got two runners on. I knocked in a run to tie the game at 7-7.

“Then we had to do the same thing in the 15th. It was such an emotional rollercoaster of a game. Gardner-Webb was leading 9-7. When I crossed home plate with the winning run (the third of the inning) it was an amazing feat. We did something that we never thought was possible.”

Who had the biggest influence on you during your athletic career at Lipscomb? How?

“Obviously, coach Forehand was No. 1. I was facing a lot of adversity in my athletic career and personally in my life. I wasn’t always one of the top players on the team and I always felt like I was coming from behind. I really spent a lot time with coach Forehand. He always had an open door policy and encouraged us to come by and talk with him.

“I got to talk with him and he told me what he knew about the game. He gave me some books to read. He influenced me all the way around. But athletically he was definitely the No. 1 influence through his example and his words of wisdom. He was able to speak into my life.”

What is your fondest non-athletic memory from your time at Lipscomb?

“I would have to say it was meeting my wife Olivia. It was a four-year process. I let her know how I felt the first week I got on campus. I didn’t know how she felt until the last semester on campus. I had to stick it out and persevere.”
What is the most valuable thing you gained or learned from your time at Lipscomb?

“There are so many things I learned. One was how to face adversity. I got saved at Lipscomb and became a Christian. I realized adversity was something you have to go through. Baseball, school and different classes beginning and ending made me realize that everything is just a means. So when you are facing adversity don’t look at the end of it. Enjoy and appreciate the process and all of the adversity you are facing because just because you get through one thing there is going to be more later on.”
Who was your favorite professor? Why?

“I would have to say it was Perry Moore. Some people are just teachers. He is so bright and so intelligent about accounting. He would always teach out of the book, but he made us understand it so much better with his teaching. I would rather look at his notes than read the book to learn something. He was able to explain things we couldn’t understand and articulate what he was thinking.

“Plus he was a baseball fan. He was always bringing it up and asking about it.”
Where do you live now?

“We live in Nashville.”

Who is your employer? What is your occupation? What does your position entail?

“I work at Crowe-Horvath, a public accounting firm where I audit financial institutions. I have my bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Lipscomb. I am working on my CPA right now. I have passed three parts.”
Tell us about your family.